Amarena Restaurant Review: This charming trattoria on Russian Hill has high ceilings, dark wood floors, and dappled metallic walls. The menu offers mostly traditional dishes, but includes a number of dressed-up favorites like hand-cut spinach gnocchi in pungent Gorgonzola sauce, layered with slices of earthy shiitake mushrooms. Calamari ripieni---baked squid filled with shrimp and crab meat in a white wine sauce---is the standout starter. Tagliolini con osso buco, which resembles a veal shank mountain covered in a snow of fresh pasta and porcini cream sauce; and pappardelle verdi all' anatra, thick spinach ribbons with duck meat in a brandy sauce, are rich, rustic and satisfying. Try the entrée grigliata mista of red snapper, salmon and jumbo prawns atop lumpy mashed potatoes and steamed spinach. For dessert, there’s chocolate salume, a disk of chocolate decadence surrounded by apricot and strawberry gelée. The wine list features 20-plus Italian reds and a small selection of Italian whites and California varietals by the bottle, along with a number of choices by the glass. Service is friendly and relaxed and suits the mood.
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